KALAMAZOO, Mich. — A Kalamazoo nonprofit will be handing out free Narcan kits and fentanyl testing strips on Tuesday after an “unprecedented” number of overdoses.
On Monday, the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety announced a seventh person died from a dangerous batch of fentanyl, which killed six people and caused more than a dozen overdoses throughout the county in just 24 hours last week.
READ MORE: Kalamazoo police reports 6th death connected to deadly fentanyl batch
A KDPS spokesperson says the initial investigation indicates that the victims thought they were using prescription and other illegal drugs, not fentanyl.
Clinical reports from the Kalamazoo County Health and Community Services Departmentshow cocaine and an unknown substance likely played a role in the overdoses too, but further tests need to be conducted.
READ MORE: Kalamazoo police warn of deadly fentanyl batch circulating community
HOPE thru Navigation, an organization which helps people with substance use disorder, says that as a result, it has ramped up efforts to pass out harm reduction tools, like Narcan and fentanyl testing strips, for free.
The efforts began on Saturday when they gave away more than 300 kits and strips.
Another event will be held on April 18 from 12:30 p.m.-3 p.m. on Paterson and Burdick St.
“I would ask people to have grace and to have compassion,” said Gwendolyn Hooker, CEO and founder of HOPE thru Navigation. “There are many people that you don't know what their story is [or] what led them to this place… nobody wakes up and says that, ‘I want to be addicted to anything,’ just like nobody wakes up and says that they want to have cancer or diabetes. If given the the time, people hopefully will find that there's a different way to be able to recover from substance use disorder.”
Hooker says that in the past few days, the organization has heard a lot from people who are heart broken over the dangerous batch, but also motivated to help.
She especially encourages everyone to carry Narcan, which HOPE thru Navigation teaches people how to use.
“Under [Michigan’s] Samaritan Law, you are protected, you're not going to get into trouble,” said Hooker. “We want you to administer that Narcan. There's not a wrong way to administer it and it won't harm people if they're not in an overdose episode.”
To learn more about HOPE thru Navigation, click here.
